Now, that same investigation has turned up a possible solution at work in other cities, but, as WISN 12 News investigative reporter Kent Wainscott has discovered, there's a catch.

Every day downtown, drivers with disabled parking tags fill scores of regular parking spaces without feeding the meters. Free, unlimited parking with a disabled tag is what Wisconsin allows.

A WISN 12 News investigation recently showed people routinely walking to their vehicles at the end of a work day, often around high-traffic buildings, like the courthouse and City Hall, having never paid to park because they have a hang tag in the window.

Wainscott found no one is regularly enforcing the use of disabled tags.

The city figures it is losing well over $400,000 a year in parking revenue, while accessible parking becomes harder to find for many who need it.

"Where did you park?" Wainscott said

"I parked all the way over there by the library. It's a distance, and I got one leg. (I'm) on crutches," Anthony Williams said.

WISN 12 News' investigation sparked an outcry from many people. But now, months later, Wainscott found nothing has changed.

"Not only does the problem still exist, it's a lot of the same cars," Wainscott asked.

"Absolutely, we've had this problem for years. That angers me, and I think angers most citizens," Milwaukee Alderman Michael Murphy said.

Wainscott found Milwaukee wasn't alone.

"They were seeing that upwards of 50 percent of the people had handicap hang tags in these areas," Minneapolis traffic engineer Tim Drew said.

When Minneapolis discovered many of its timed downtown parking spaces filled all day by drivers with disabled tags, it found a way to free up those spaces .

Drivers who come and go from the courthouse and City Hall in downtown Minneapolis and need close-by, accessible parking can usually find it without much problem because they have something here that Milwaukee doesn't have -- a time limit.

Minneapolis has a one-hour limit at City Hall, and a four-hour limit throughout downtown. Still no charge for disabled drivers, but only those with a special permit for a severe disability can take a space for the entire day.

"A four-hour limit at these spaces is getting done what needs to be done," Drew said.

Pittsburgh is another city that made changes to solve its parking troubles, increasing enforcement by becoming the first city in the country to make drivers enter license plate numbers in its parking meters and requiring disabled drivers to pay for parking, giving them just one additional free hour after the meter expires.

"They're accommodating them and giving them an extra 60 minutes to get back to their vehicle due to their disability," Pittsburgh parking director David Onorato said.

"But they have to clear out when their time limit and grace period is over?" Wainscott asked.

"That's correct, they're treated just like any other parker," Onorato said.

The cities said the changes have made parking more accessible and helped their budgets, which is exactly what some in Milwaukee are hoping to do.

"How can we make this better?" asked Diana Sullivan of the advocacy group, Independence First.

Sullivan thinks the Minneapolis plan of free parking with time limits, except for those with severe disabilities, may be the kind of fix Milwaukee needs.

"Would that work in Milwaukee?" Sullivan asked.

"Well, I think it's a good idea, and I think it's something that should be investigated," Sullivan said.

The problem, supporters said, is that there hasn't been enough focus on finding a solution until now.

"Other cities have been able to manage it responsibly, and it's worked out well for them, and you know, really through Channel 12's initiative and helping to get more attention on this, I'm hoping somebody in the state legislature will recognize that and use us as a pilot," Murphy said.

That's the catch -- in those other cities, the solutions required a change in state law. That would have to happen in Milwaukee as well.

Wainscott, the alderman and the advocates have been in touch with state lawmakers.

They are focused on the budget debate in Madison right now, but WISN 12 News will stay on this and let people know about any progress or changes.

The law would not necessarily have to change for the whole state. The Pennsylvania parking law is statewide, but the Minnesota law applies only to the state's biggest cities.